Thursday, December 10, 2015

The COLORful World Of 1991 WWF

In Christmases of my youth, I always looked forward to stocking stuffers. In my family, we always opened the stocking last. It was a place for small, inexpensive gifts, but often times those presents were the best of all. I can even remember coloring books being stuffed inside. No matter the content, I enjoyed coloring. I always found difficulty staying inside the lines, but it didn't matter. Even my very first piece of wrestling memorabilia was a coloring book, covering the wide world of Hulk Hogan's Rock n Wrestling cartoon.

In the past few months, I've come to enjoy the trend that is "adult coloring." It might actually be more accurate to say that I've rediscovered coloring in general, as my status as an adult is questioned even in my own mind. As far as the "adult coloring books" that are on the market, I just don't like them. The "artistic" design of the drawings to color leave very little room unless you're using a thin colored pencil. No sir. Give me broad designs with a lot of room for me to smash my Crayolas into a colorful crescendo.

Going back to kiddie coloring books got me to thinking of just how wrestling translated to the medium. Of course, there were the aforementioned Rock 'n Wrestling books, but I knew that there were more. Recently, I stumbled upon a completed Jimmy Hart page colored by someone online. The picture was familiar to me, and I suddenly remembered a line of WWF coloring books from 1991. Upon an eBay search, I discovered two things. First, I was fairly sure that I have an unused example with an Ultimate Warrior cover packed away somewhere. Second, I may not be the only one looking for these to satisfy their "adult coloring" urges. The asking prices were rather high, no doubt drummed up by recent interest. Nonetheless, I made an offer for a very reasonably priced example, and in my hands a few days later was the WWF Tag Team Superstars Coloring Book.

Hawk and Animal, in their classic first WWF promo shot, may grace the cover of this "tag team" book, but it's really a showcase for a lot of 1991 WWF talent. Heck, even Andre the Giant shows up here in his wrestling gear. What I found the coolest was that some of the managers were included. In addition to the exact Jimmy Hart page that I had seen online, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Mr. Fuji, and Sensational Queen Sherri are here, too, in an era when the non-wrestlers just weren't marketed like the in-ring WWF Superstars.

WWE still releases coloring books, but aside from The Undertaker and Triple H, you aren't going to find many legends to color. Want to stylize the likes of Earthquake, Dino Bravo, and The Barbarian? Then you have to go old school. I truly believe in the well-touted relaxing effects of coloring as an adult. It can transport you to a much more comforting time in your life. Coloring the wrestling heroes and villains of my youth only accentuates that.

Coloring vintage wrestlers is a match made in Heaven for me. Since the wrestlers of the era had so many different outfits, not to mention color schemes, it leaves a lot of room for your own interpretations. Don't feel like you're above coloring...it's something that you have likely done since you were in the single digits. And keep that "Yellow-Orange" Crayola handy, it's perfect for the big boys of the era!